Kalamazoo, Michigan is currently home to an unprecedented experiment in economic development. Announced in November 2005, the Kalamazoo Promise guarantees full college scholarships to potentially every graduate of the Kalamazoo Public School district. Behind the scholarship program is an economic development agenda that seeks to revitalize the city and the region through a substantial investment in public education. It is an unorthodox approach and one that is drawing attention throughout the United States. If the return on investment in human and economic terms is high enough, the Kalamazoo Promise could serve as a new model for community revitalization and change the way policymakers think about K-16 education. Read more.  

The first annual PromiseNet Conference was a success. Thank you to those communities who assisted in the planning of PromiseNet 2008, to our keynote presenters, and to the practitioners and facilitators who led the in-depth conversations. We also appreciate the financial support from the Kalamazoo Community Foundation and the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation and, as always, the in-kind support from the Kalamazoo Promise.

Click here for the PromiseNet 2008 Conference Proceedings.

PromiseNet 2009 will be held on June 24-26, 2009 in Denver.

PromiseNet in the News - USA Today | USA Today | The Oregonian | Cleveland.com | Quad-City Times

Upjohn Institute research activities

• Research into the origins and initial impact of the Kalamazoo Promise, including the alignment of the community around its goals, carried out by Dr. Michelle Miller-Adams, Visiting Scholar. The research will culminate in a book in 2008.
• A project funded by the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate the short- and intermediate-term outcomes of the Kalamazoo Promise, carried out in partnership with Western Michigan University’s Evaluation Center and the Midwest Educational Reform Consortium based at WMU’s College of Education.
• A long-term evaluation of the Kalamazoo Promise.
• “Investing in the Success of the Kalamazoo Promise,” an initiative funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to strengthen the outcomes of the scholarship program by investing in its evaluation and research infrastructure, and deepen community engagement.

• Kalamazoo Promise data
  • Kalamazoo Promise Summary Data - Table provides a summary of the data on KPS graduates, graduates eligible for the Promise, graduates approved for the Promise, and current users of the Promise for the 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years. Updated January, 2008.
  • Kalamazoo Promise Demographic Data: First Semester Comparison - Table provides data on the number of students from the classes of 2006 and 2007 who used the Promise the first semester after graduating from KPS. The data is broken down by race and gender for KPS graduates, graduates eligible for the Promise, and users of the Promise. February, 2008.
  • Kalamazoo Promise Demographic Data - Table provides race and gender breakdowns for KPS graduates, graduates eligible for the Promise, and current users of the Promise for the 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years. Updated January, 2008.
  • College or University Attendance for Promise Users - Number of students that have attended each college or university using the Promise for the classes of 2006 and 2007. Updated January, 2008.
  • Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship Funding Level Eligibility - Table provides data on the number of students from each high school that are eligible to use the Promise, as well as the funding level they are eligible to receive. Data are provided for each high school for both the 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years. Updated October 18, 2007.
• Scorecard: List of key indicators
• The Promise at a glance: 2006
• Community report card: 2006
• Promise Week: Report card 2007 (4.5 Meg)

• Paths to Success diagram - This diagram represents the linkages within and between the educational and economic systems, and suggests the ways in which the Kalamazoo Promise can contribute to the vitality of both.
• A Simple Gift? The Impact of the Kalamazoo Promise on Economic Revitalization, by Michelle Miller-Adams
• Working papers and presentations
  • The Kalamazoo Promise: A Study of Philanthropy’s Increasing Role in the American Economy and Education, a working paper by Shelley Strickland
  • The Effects of the Kalamazoo Promise on College Choice, a working paper by Rodney J. Andrews, Stephen DesJardins, and Vimal Ranchhod
  • The Kalamazoo Promise: Building Assets for Community Change, a PowerPoint presentation by Michelle Miller-Adams
  • Michigan: The #1 Quality Workforce in the Nation?, by Roberts T. Jones
    • Accompanying PowerPoint presentation
  • Assessing the Cherry Commission, a PowerPoint presentation by Timothy J. Bartik
  • Mapping the Promise: Critical Pathways, a PowerPoint presentation by Randall W. Eberts
  • A History of Job Loss and Economic Adjustment: Looking Ahead, a PowerPoint presentation by George A. Erickcek
  • What’s New? What’s Not? The Kalamazoo Promise in the Context of Other Scholarship Programs, a PowerPoint presentation by Michelle Miller-Adams

• Randall W. Eberts
• Michelle Miller-Adams
• Bridget Timmeney

• Working papers/presentations: Town Hall Meeting on "Education and Michigan's Economic Future"
• Media coverage of the Kalamazoo Promise
• Communities with programs modeled on the Kalamazoo Promise
• Selected scholarship programs and evaluation reports
• Other research